


Swing little dreamer

by SunflowerAro



Series: Peter Parker is a loveable idiot [3]
Category: Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Gen, May is super understanding, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Peter being an idiot, The avengers have his back
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:28:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22416253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunflowerAro/pseuds/SunflowerAro
Summary: "Tony turned around, eyes catching Peter's. Oh, shoot. Peter slipped and fell, crashing to the floor. Ned dragged him into a classroom at the last second, footsteps passing by, but continuing down the hallway, fading out. The two let out a sigh of relief— they were safe."Or, Peter finds out the avengers are attending school interviews in May's place and is determined to know what they're saying about him.
Series: Peter Parker is a loveable idiot [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1566292
Kudos: 6





	Swing little dreamer

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MontytheRabbit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MontytheRabbit/gifts).



Peter collapsed into his bed—his own bed, finally! Breaking the curse had taken a lot out of him. They had needed a lot of his energy as well as numerous herbs and some of Strange's magic to break it; it had taken ages. But he was back at the apartment now and he planned to sleep well into tomorrow. The Summer holidays were almost over and he wasn't wasting a second of rest.

**

Peter tried to tackle both his studies and having a second life as a superhero, truly he did. It just wasn't possible, not for a teenage boy. 

"Mr. Parker, may I see you after class?" 

Fear gripped at his chest, its clawed hands squeezing the breath from his lungs. Shit. Ms. Traue was looking at him expectantly, beady eyes watching him from behind her reading glasses. The rest of the class held their breath as they waited for his reply. Ms. Traue was known for her harsh punishments when students messed up. 

"Of course!" He said, mustering up a grin, even if it felt pained. He was so screwed, especially when May found out.

Ms. Traue nodded, disregarding him for the moment in favour of returning to her paperwork. Peter went back to his own work, fidgeting with his pen as he worried his lips between his teeth. 

The bell rang and everyone leapt out of their seats, laughing and playfully shoving each other—the weekend was upon them. Peter remained sitting in his seat, head bowed as possible scenarios ran through his head. What if she found out he had stolen Flash's new microphone? The stupid thing had been irritating the entire school and his senses were still muddled up because of it. Or, what if she was mad because he hadn't been paying enough attention recently? Had he done his homework?

"Peter." He trudged up to the teacher’s desk, awaiting her judgement. Her eyes were stone, staring into his very soul as the moments ticked by. She leaned forward, clasping her hands together as she stared into his soul.

"You haven't been doing your homework lately, Peter, and your grades have been lacking. Is there anything you would like to discuss with me?" Her words were smooth, but her gaze was still cold and calculated. God, he was screwed.

He gulped, fidgeting with his sleeve. "I'm sorry, Ms. Traue. I've been super busy with my internship and some...stuff has come up lately." He looked back at her, eyes pleading for understanding.

She tutted, standing and gesturing to the door. "Very well. We have a parent teacher conference soon and I would like your guardian to come. I would like to discuss this with them, thank you."

Peter grimaced, but held his tongue. Her words were final. He nodded, stepping out of the classroom with the last of his dignity. May was going to kill him when she found out. It wasn't his fault that his spider duties had been more strenuous than usual as of late, and that Tony seemed to be calling him in more often for 'study sessions’; between the two, he had had no time for school work. 

Peter groaned, putting his head in his hands. Why couldn't anything go right for him? Just a few peaceful months, that's all he asked for. 

His phone buzzed and he jumped, heart racing as he pulled his phone out. It was Ned, asking for all the details of his talk with their teacher. Of course. Ned always wanted to be clued in and he would offer appropriate advice, oftentimes helping drastically. Peter's lips quirked as he texted back, glad to vent, as he walked to their usual meeting place. Even if everything was going to shit, Ned would always be there for him. 

Peter rounded the corner, stepping out into the refreshing Autumn air. He took in a deep breath, letting out his worries with it. He could figure this out, he always did. Then everything could go back to the way it used to be.

**

May looked up as he walked into the apartment, fire in her eyes. Peter gulped, eyes flicking about for any escape, but the doors were closed, windows latched shut.

"Peter." Her tone was cold. He turned back to her stone gaze. 

"Yeah, Aunt May?" He rubbed the back of his neck, wishing he was anywhere but here.

"Sit."

Peter obliged, sitting tensely on the edge of the couch, fingers linked together. He couldn't look her in the eye as she sat down beside him.

"I got a phone call today. Did you know that?" 

Peter nodded slowly. May rarely ever got mad, but when she did it was quiet and cold, yet a fire sat within her. She would never yell at him, but her cool fury was even more terrifying than any shouted words could ever be.

"Your teachers have told me you haven't been doing your work lately. Any particular reason?" 

Well, he couldn't tell her about his patrols as Spider-Man, nor could he mention the curse and how that had left him too distracted for weeks. He could mention...

"I'm sorry, May. I didn't mean to, I swear. I've just been so busy with my internship lately that I've been forgetting to hand homework in." He shrunk down even more. It wasn't that he hadn't been doing the work—the growing pile on his desk was proof of that—but he was too distracted with other work and patrol. By the time morning arrived, he was too busy running out the door to remember to pack his homework. It was a terrible cycle. 

May sighed, placing a hand on his shoulder. "If it's too much, Peter, you can always ask Tony to lessen the workload. He cares about you, I can see that much. If his internship is having drawbacks on your schoolwork I'm sure he would lay off a bit." 

Peter nodded. "I know. I'm doing the work, I swear. I just keep forgetting it. My teachers don't accept late work." 

May pursed her lips. "We'll have to work on that, then. We'll get through this, Pete. We will." She wrapped an arm around him, pulling him close and squeezing him against her. Peter beamed at the gesture, resting his head on her shoulder as she ran her fingers through his hair affectionately.

"Oh, I forgot to mention. They want me to come in for a parent teacher interview next Monday but I can't make it. I'm sorry, Peter." 

Peter frowned. She couldn't make it again? "It's not your fault, May. You work so hard for the both of us. I'll let them know tomorrow." 

"What did I do to deserve you?" She ruffled his hair, laughing at the disgruntled look on Peter's face.

"Now off to bed with you. And don't forget your homework in the morning!"

Peter huffed. "I'll try, May."

"Good enough for me. Sleep well, munchkin."

"You too, May."

Peter dropped onto his bed, exhausted. At least May had understood. It was infinitely better than her tearing into him. He grimaced at the thought—never again. 

He turned to look at the spider mask sitting on his chair, the eyes staring back at him. He would be going to the compound tomorrow for the weekend, maybe he could bring up the issue with Tony? Peter shook his head—how could Tony help him if his forgetfulness was the issue? Hopefully this would sort itself out and he could restore his grades. 

**

Tony clicked off the recording, turning back to the other occupants of the room, Natasha and Steve. 

"Pete's been having a hard time, guys. He needs our help. If May can't make the interview we can, and we'll explain the issue to his teachers. I'm sure they'll understand if we tell them we've been taking up all his time recently."

Natasha pursed her lips in thought. "It's not a bad idea, but we don't want to attract too much attention to ourselves."

Tony brushed off her concern. "Don't worry, they're private interviews; it'll just be us and the teacher. None of our school-kid fans will be around to see us."

Steve sighed, reluctant. "As much as this sounds like a terrible mistake, I'm willing to do it for Peter. He tries so hard and he doesn't deserve this injustice."

Tony whooped, clapping his hands together. "Awesome! So, you guys can choose the subjects you want and I'll take the rest. Just explain the issue to them and we can fix this, capiche?"

They nodded, pulling the papers towards them. This would be an easy fix for their friendly neighbourhood spider.

"I'll take Spanish," Natasha said, passing the list over to Steve. 

After a moment of perusing, Steve said, "History."

Tony nodded. "Sounds good. I'll take the rest. Don't forget to mention the internship, yeah? And nothing about the avengers. He's befriended us through his internship, that's all."

"They'll fall for it. I'm sure he would have done that if he was only here for the internship—he's too kind." A faint smiled graced Natasha's lips—the others said nothing, too scared to tease her.  
  
"Perfect. And, don't mention this to Pete, alright?" Steve nodded, but Natasha crossed her arms.

"I won't unless he asks."

"Fine, let's not let him do that, then."

**

The compound was quieter than usual, with only Tony, Natasha and Steve around. Bruce was here, but he was currently cooped up in his room researching and wouldn't emerge for days—according to Tony at least. So, Peter was left in the living room (if 'room' could apply to an entire floor) with the few avengers left around. Natasha was on the single couch beside him, reclined with a book in her lap. She had nodded in his direction when he arrived, which he had learned was her own quiet, 'hello'. 

Steve and Tony were sitting together across from Peter, whispering and occasionally glancing at him. It was suspicious. Peter almost wished he still had the curse. At least that way he could figure out what they were up to, since it clearly involved him. 

He eyed them once more before turning back to his phone, scrolling mindlessly as he pondered. What on earth could they be discussing regarding him? He had done all his work earlier, and he wasn't hiding anything from them currently, so what could it be?

Natasha's eyes flicked to them for a brief moment, before she rolled them and continued reading. Peter smirked behind his phone; she knew what was happening. Now he just needed to ask her. Surely Natasha wouldn't hide this from him. She was more mature than that. 

"I'm going to head off to bed now." Peter yawned with slight exaggeration, stretching his arms above his head for good measure. He could wait an hour and then have FRIDAY call Natasha to his room. That way he could talk to her without Tony and Steve listening in, and surely Natasha would head off to bed to read once Peter was gone. FRIDAY could let him know, anyhow. 

The whispers stopped. 

"Of course, Pete. See you tomorrow, and no patrols," Tony said, crossing his arms. 

"I know, I know." 

"He's right. Have a good sleep, Peter," Steve added.

Peter nodded. "I will. Good night, guys." He nodded to Natasha as he walked past her, glowing inside as she gave him a faint smile, nodding back. It had taken some time before she acknowledged him in the compound. She had probably thought Tony was rash to bring such a young recruit in, but he had earned her trust over time and it was astounding, like liquid gold pouring through his veins as his efforts paid off. 

Peter took the elevator up, fatigue finally catching up to him now that the thought of sleeping had crossed his mind. His eyelids threatened to shut, shoulders laden down with exhaustion. He shook his head to disperse it—he needed to talk to Natasha first. 

He dropped down onto the edge of his bed, knee bouncing and hands clasped tightly together. What could they possibly be hiding from him?

Peter was lying back on the bedspread, dozing, when his alarm went off. He jumped nearly a foot in the air, senses on fire as he glanced around, eyes finally landing on his phone. He ran a hand over his face, turning the obnoxiously loud noise off. He shook his hands to get rid of their trembling—loud noises really set him off—and turned to the ceiling.

"FRIDAY?"

"Yes, Peter?" 

"Is Natasha in her room?" 

There was a pause. "Yes. Did you need her?"

Peter nodded. "I do. Can you ask her to come to my room, please?"

The AI chuckled. "You do not need to be so polite with me, Peter. I will have her come by."

Peter flushed. "Thank you, FRIDAY."

The AI huffed another laugh before fading out. May had really pushed her polite nature onto Peter; he couldn't help but treat every being, alive or not, with respect. 

A soft knock on the door drew his attention back to the present. Natasha never played around. 

"Come in." 

She opened the door, shutting it gently behind her and walking over to sit beside Peter on the bed.

"What did you need, Peter?" Straightforward, as usual.

"Um." He fidgeted with his hands. Was he looking into this too much? Would she laugh him off as too worried? He mentally steeled himself. He needed to go through with this, even if it turned out to be a fluke.

"Are you guys hiding something from me?" He asked, turning back to her.

She looked taken aback for a moment, before a sly grin made its way onto her face. "Indeed, we are. You have a keen eye, Peter." 

He blushed at the compliment, looking back down so she couldn’t see his red cheeks.

"Tony overheard your conversation with your aunt last night and he wants to help. We will be attending the interview night in place of your aunt."

Peter's eyes widened and he looked back up at her. Of all things *this* was what they were hiding? 

"They—you're... you guys would do that for me?" 

She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Of course. You are one of us now, and we look after our own. We will sort this issue out for you, Peter." 

He nodded, still distraught at the thought of the avengers—the avengers, for crying out loud—attending the interview for him. 

"Oh." He turned back to her, curious. "Could you not let Tony and Steve know I told you? I promised not to." 

Peter blinked. She had told him even after making such a promise? Maybe he had more sway over her than he originally thought...

"Of course, Ms. Romanoff." 

She smiled at him, squeezing his shoulder before standing to leave. She turned back. 

"Thank you, Peter." And she was gone, the only sign of her presence was the burning her hand left behind on his shoulder. 

Peter lay back once more, staring at the dark ceiling above him. Natasha was more of a true friend than he had originally thought...

**

Peter left Sunday evening with Tony and Steve none the wiser. They had been too caught up in their private discussions and hadn't noticed the constant smirks between him and Natasha, nor had they caught on to the occasional snickers or eye rolls. They were oblivious, it was a wonder Tony had noticed something was wrong when Peter had had the curse.

Monday night came a little too quickly for Peter's liking. 

"Ned." He whined, turning to his best friend currently sitting on the floor, piecing together Lego. 

Ned rolled his eyes fondly, turning his attention back to his distraught—and whiny—friend. "Yes, Peter?" 

Peter dropped from the ceiling to pace. "The avengers are going to be talking to my teachers in an hour and I'm just sitting here. What are they going to say about me? What if—" Peter squawked indignantly when Ned grabbed his arm, dragging him down to sit beside him and wrapping an arm around his shoulders, pulling him close. 

"Pete, my buddy, my best friend, my platonic soulmate. Chill. Natasha said they were going to help out with the issue, correct?" Peter nodded miserably against Ned's shoulder. "Then they will! They're the avengers, what could go wrong?"

Peter sighed. "You're right, as usual. I just wanna know what they're saying."

"Well, if that's the case let's go find out. No one needs to know and we can sneak in and out. The interviews are only 15 minutes long anyway, 3 minutes each subject. I can stand watch for you."

Peter's eyes widened. "You'd do that for me?"  
Ned chuckled, ruffling Peter's hair. "Of course. That's what best friends are for."

Peter jumped up, energy coursing through his veins. "Awesome! We should head out after some snacks."

Ned nodded in agreement. "Snacks always come first."

**

"Alright, are you sure it's safe?" Peter asked for the fifth time that night. Ned turned back from his position at the corner, exasperation in his eyes. 

"Peter, its fine." The hallway had no cameras, thankfully, and only one entrance: a corner turning onto it. It was perfect.

Peter snuck a glance over the window. Tony was sat in front of his maths teacher, gesticulating enthusiastically as he spoke. But what was he saying? 

Peter sunk back down, pulling at the latch on the window to the room. He winced as it flicked, clanking against the metal frame. None of the two moved—he was good so far. 

He pushed the window up barely an inch, relieved as their voices washed over him. All was going well, it seemed. But he still couldn't see! Was his teacher going to bring out that one test he flunked? He didn't want Tony of all people to know about that. 

"Is everything clear, Ned?" He whispered.

Ned watched the hallway before turning back, giving him a thumbs-up. 

"I'll let you know the second someone walks down here, okay?"

"Awesome." Peter snuck another glance through the window, but the view wasn't good enough. He needed to be higher.

He turned to the wall behind him, creeping up it and settling down on the roof, crouched. Perfect. He could see his teachers face and what she was showing Tony. 

The test was pulled out and Peter groaned. Of course, she would show his idol that test, of course. Tony turned around, eyes catching Peter's. 

Oh shit. Peter slipped and fell, crashing to the floor. Ned was at his side in an instant, pulling him up and into an empty classroom. Footsteps passed by, but they continued down the hallway, fading out. The two let out a sigh of relief— they were safe. 

"Thanks, Ned." Peter rubbed his head, wincing. That hadn't been his best moment. 

"Natasha is up next." Ned eyed the door worriedly. 

Peter's gaze moved over to the vents, a grin working its way onto his face. 

"Don't worry, I have an idea." Ned followed his eyes.

"Be careful, Peter. Don't fall again, I won’t be there to save you."

Peter gave him a sidelong glance, pulling the grate off of the vent and sliding in.

"I'll be a few minutes. And I’m always careful, Ned." Ned snorted, but he still nodded, sitting down cross-legged and pulling out his phone.

"Text me if you need me."

Peter crawled along, following the vents until he was situated over the classroom the interviews were held in. Natasha was indeed inside and talking to his Spanish teacher. She was halfway through explaining his situation to his teacher, that he wasn’t neglecting his work, only forgetting to bring it in due to such a busy schedule. She even brought out some work he had left at the compound to emphasise her point. Peter smiled as she did so, glad to have someone watching his back. 

A hand grabbed his leg and he squeaked, whipping around as he flinched away from the figure. 

"You shouldn't be in here, kid."

He turned back to see Hawkeye, Clint Barton himself, behind him, giving him a harsh glare. 

Peter gulped. "Uh, sorry, sir. I'll go then..."

Clint nodded. "You will. Don't let me catch you in here again, kid." His eyes shone with mischief for a moment, lip quirking upwards before it vanished, his face stone once more. "Although I can't blame you for being intrigued. Now run along."

Peter crawled off as quickly as he could. He dragged Ned back outside and to the park, ignoring all of Ned’s questions and protests until they were sat down far away from any avengers. 

"Clint found me," he said.

Ned gawked. "Clint, as in Hawkeye? What was he doing there?"

Peter thought for a moment. "Tony must have called him after he saw me. Dang it, I should've known." He huffed. Now he would have to deal with the consequences at the compound on the weekend. It was going to be so embarrassing.

"Hey, don't worry. They'll understand. Besides, Tony hid this from you, can he blame you for being curious?"

Peter relaxed at Ned's words. "Thanks, Ned. You always know just what to say."

Ned wrapped him up in a warm hug. "No problem." He let go, standing up. "Shall we head back now?" 

Peter nodded. It was all they could do at the moment. 

**

"Kid, what where you doing?" 

Peter winced. He had just walked in and they were already discussing this? He saw Natasha smirk from behind her book and huffed. Betrayal. "You never told me what you were doing, so I went to find out myself."

Tony sighed. "Maybe we should have told you, but still. It was dangerous to do something like that in such a public place, Pete."

Peter shook his head. "Don't worry, no one else saw. Ned was looking out for me."

Tony smirked. "I should've known. My spider protégé wouldn't go in alone." 

Peter blushed, turning away. "Did you have to send Clint?" 

Tony snorted. "Someone had to stop you before you did something you regretted. Might as well send the resident hawk to deal with our spider problem."

"What! No fair, I was careful."

Tony hummed. "Next time don't let me see you then."

Peter huffed, sitting down with his arms crossed.

"Aw, don't be like that, kid. We were just looking out for you."

Peter sighed. "I know. Thank you for that, guys. I really appreciate it. You all saved my grades." 

"So, it worked, then. Good. Next time put your homework in your bag the night before so you don't forget." Natasha finally spoke up. 

Peter blinked, how hadn't he thought of that. "I will, thank you."

"Awesome. Now that you're free you can help me out with my research." Tony shot him a smirk.

Peter rolled his eyes. "Fine. Only because you saved my skin."

"That's the spirit!"

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you notice any little mistakes or you enjoyed it please let me know.  
> See you guys next time!!  
> Title is from the song 'Wild Disguise'


End file.
